Propelling and steering mechanism for aircraft.



R. A. SHUTE.

PROPEILLING AND STEERING MECHANISM FOR AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 17. l9l5.

1,1 96,609., Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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Witnesses lnvntor R. A. SHUTE. PHOPELLING AND STEERING MECHANISM FOR AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 17. I9I 5- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PatentedAug. 22), 1916.-

Witnesses Inventor mmmz RICHARD ALEXANDERSHUTE, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

PROPELLIN G AND STEERING MECHANISM FOR AIRCRAFT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

Application filed July 17, 1915. Serial No. 40,448.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that ll, RICHARD A. SHUTE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Propelling and Steering Mechanism for Aircraft, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to propelling and steering apparatus for air craft, one of the objects of the invention being to combine with an ordinary propeller, a means for exhausting air from back of the propeller and, under ordinary conditions, directmgthe exhausted air backwardly against the air craft so as to form a film of air along the walls of the air craft, thus to reduce friction set up by the passage of the air craft through the atmosphere and, consequently, permitting a higher speed to be attained than heretofore.

A further object is to provide means whereby the air exhausted from' the propeller can be utilized for steering the air craft upwardly, downwardly and laterally, said means being constantly under the control of the aviator.

It is a well known fact to those skilled in the art that when a propeller is rotated at a high speed,'it loses some of its efficiency because of the fact that a whirllng body of air is created at the center ofthe propeller, the propeller thus becoming what is known as air bound. This condition permits the air to flow hackwardly through the comparatively dead center of the propeller.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide means whereby the air is exhausted or sucked 'away from the propeller as fast as it is displaced thereby, so that the formation of this whirling body of air and, consequently, the dead center, is prevented. Consequently the efiiciency of the propeller is materially increased.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the pre ferred' form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings :F igure 1 is a longitudinal section through the propelling and steering mechanism constituting the present lnvention, a portion of an air ship of the lighter-than-air type being shown in connection therewith. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the casing of the exhauster, the propeller being removed. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the casing of the exhauster, the outlet flues being shown in section. Fig. 4 is a section on line AB Fig. 1.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a casing fixedly connected to the front end of theair craft, a portion of the structure of the machine being indicated at 2. The back wall of the casing has an opening 3 through which extends a bearing 4 which is fixed relative to the structure 2. A large intake opening 5 is provided at the center of the front of easing l and this inlet opening is substantially funnel-shaped as shown. That portion of the front Wall of casing 1 surrounding the opening 5 is inclined rearwardly as at 6, thus to constitute deflecting means.

Formed in the back of the casing 1 is a series of openings 7 located adjacent the periphery of the casing. Each of these openings preferably has an outlet flue 8 extending therefrom and adapted to direct air against the wall of the structure 2 when said air is discharged through the openings 7. Any desired number of these openings 7 may be used, although in the present instance foursuch openings have been shown. Mounted for rotation on the hearing t is a sleeve 9 secured to the middle portion of a cutoff disk 10.. This disk is mounted for rotation within the casing 1 and fits closely to the back wall of said casing. The said disk has a series of openings 11 so positioned as to simultaneously register with the openings 7. An arm 12 is secured to and moves with the sleeve 9 and a spring 13 is fastened at one end to this arm and at its other end to the bearing 4. This spring and the arm serve to hold the openings 11 normally in register with the openings 7.

A disk 10 is mounted in the front portion of the casing 1 and is parallel with disk 10 and connected thereto by meansof cross rods 11. Disk 10 serves simply as a opening 14 is normally closed by a hinged balance to prevent air pressure from foreing the valve disk 10 against the back wall of casing 1 and producing excessive friction which might seriously interfere with the actuation of the disk 10.

Formed within the peripheral portion of the casing l are outlet openings 14. Preferably-four of these openings are employed, one at the top and another at the bottom of the casing, while one opening is formed in each'side portion of the casing. Each valve 15' and .pivotally connected to each i of these hingdwalves is a rod 15 having a slotted end portion 16 into which extends.

a stud 17 projecting from the ring 10.

Secured to the hinged end of each valve 15' is a rod 18 extending backwardly from the casing 1, eachrod having a sheave l9 thereon which can be operated in any suit-. able manner, as by means of a cord 20 or the like. Obviously the rod 18 can be rotated in any other manner desired. One of these rods is preferably provided for each ttdlt tlldttld reds are cc connected to the valves when. (lllll 0i l'lllig its valve will beswung to open position, pulling through the rod 15 connected thereto and the stud 17, upon the disk 10 so as to rotate the disk against the a tion of the spring 13 and simultaneously c ose all the openings 7 in the back of casing 1. This rotation of disk 10 does not open the other valves for the reason that theremaining studs 17 are free to slide longitudinally of the 'slots 16 into which they project.

shaft has another sprocket A tubular shaft 21 is journaled in the bearing 4 and 22 carried by the structure 2, this tubular shaft extending into the housing or casing 1 and having a fan 23 secured thereto so as to rotate therewith, this fan being located in the casing 1 as shown. Asprocket 24 is secured to shaft 21 and receives motion through a chain 25 from a sprocket 26 rotating with a drive shaft 27. This drive 28 adapted to transmit motion'through a chain 29 to a sprocket 30.. Sprocket 30 is secured to a propeller shaft 31 which is mounted for rotation in the tubular shaft 21 and extends through the casing 1 and through the opening 5, there being a propeller 32 secured to the shaft 31 and adjacent the opening 5.

It is to be understood that the apparatus herein described is to be placed at any point desired upon an air craft. Where it is used inconnection with an air craft utilizing a gas container, it is preferable to mount the mechanism at the nose of the container. Under normal-conditions, the openings 7 and 11 are in register. Thusit will be .apparent that when the propeller 32 is rotated fan 23 is also revolved, this fan movalso in an additional bearing Thus, the air which would otherwise tend to whirl with the middle portion of the propeller, is sucked back into the casing 1 and expelled through the o enings 7 and the flues 8 and directed against the wall of the gas container, thereby forming ari air film which materially reduces the skin friction which has been found heretofore to materially retard the movement of machines of the lighter-than-air type. Should it be desired to steer the machine to the-right, the avlator need only open the valve 15' at the left side of the casing 1. This movement of the valve to open position will result in the rotation of disk 10 so that all of the back openings 7 will be closed simultaneously while all of the remaining valves 15 will also stay closed. Consequently the air drawn into the casing 1 will all be expelled through the one opening at the left side of the casing and this current of air issuing from the casing will operate to deflect the machine to the right. Obviously by openmg the opposed valve 15 the machine can rected downwardly or upwardly respectively.

It is of course to be understood that various modifications of the machine herein described can be made to adapt it to machines of the heavier-than-air type and it is to be understood, also, that other means than those described may be employed for operating the "valve. Likewise any desired number of valves may be used.

It. will be obvious of course that as soon as all of the valves 15 are closed, the spring 13 will return the disk 10 to its normal position, so that the air will be driven rearwardly through the openings 7.

What is claimed is 1. The combination with a movable structure and'a propeller for actuating the same, of a fixed casing adjacent and back of the propeller, means within the casing for exhausting air from the propeller, and means for directing the exhausted air from the easing and along the walls of the structure to form a friction reducing film of air upon said walls.

2. Apparatus of the class described including a casing, said casing having peripheral outlets, valves normally closing the outlets, a propeller, means for exhausting air from the propeller and into the casing, and means for opening any one of the valves to permit the outflow of the exhaust air.

3. Apparatus of the class described including a casing having outlet openings in the back thereof, there being outlet openings in the periphery of the casing, valves for normally closing the peripheral openings, a propeller, means within the casing for exrear outlet openings, means for opening one of the peripheral valves, for simultaneously closin the rear openings in the casing.

4. pparatus of the class described including a v casing having rear openings and peripheral openings, valves normally closing the peripheral openings, a propeller adjacent the casing, means within the casing for exhausting air from the propeller and normally forcing it through the rear openings in the casing, separate'meansffor openingthe respective valves, and means operated by each valve when opened, for closing all of the rear openings simultaneously.

5. Combined steering and propelling mechanism for air craft, comprising a propeller, a casing adjacent thereto and having rear and peripheral openings, valves normally closing the peripheral openings, means -ing the valves, and means operated by any one of the valves when moved to opened position, for simultaneously closing" all of the rear openings, said means including a disk shaving openings normally registering with the rear openings, yieldable means for holding the disk in its normal position, and a pivotal and slidable connection between each valve and the disk. In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signa- 1 ture in the presence of two witnesses.

, RICHARD ALEXANDER SHUTE. Witnesses:

' THEODORE C. SMITH, CHAs. A. WALLACE. 

